Major Whistler’s first wife was Mary, daughter of Dr. Foster Smith of the United States army, who fell in love with him as a cadet at the academy where her father was stationed. The son by this marriage, George William Whistler, followed in his father’s footsteps and became a famous railroad engineer. His second wife was Anna Matilda McNeill, a daughter of Dr. C. D. McNeill of Wilmington, N. C., and a sister of William Gibbs McNeill, his friend and associate. She was the mother of the artist, James Abbot McNeill Whistler. Major Whistler’s body was carried to America and deposited in St. Paul’s church, Boston, but it was subsequently buried at Stonington, the place of all places that this wanderer loved best and which he called home. A beautiful monument stands in Twilight Dell, in Greenwood cemetery, erected to his memory by the Society of American Engineers, which bears upon it this inscription: “In memory of George Washington Whistler, Civil Engineer. Born at Fort Wayne, Indiana, May, 1800. Died at St. Petersburg, Russia, April, 1849. Educated at the U. S. Military Academy. He retired from the army in 1833 and became associated with William Gibbs McNeill. They were, in their time, acknowledged to be at the head of their profession in this country. He was distinguished for theoretical and practical ability, coupled with sound judgment and great integrity. In 1842 he was invited to Russia by the Emperor Nicholas, and died there while constructing the St. Petersburg & Moscow Railroad. This cenotaph is a memorial of the esteem and affection of his friends and companions.” It can well be said that Whistler, the artist, has come honestly and honorably by his brilliant gifts, and it can be stated with equal emphasis that the Genesis of a Genius is seldom as great and worthy. DAVID HAMILTON, A SOLDIER OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. BY DANIEL M. O’DRISCOLL, CHARLESTON, S. C. David Hamilton was born in Cork, Ireland, in November, 1749. He came to Charleston, S. C., when quite young. He was well educated, a man of property, and about 1774 wedded Elizabeth Reynolds. She was a daughter of Rev. James Reynolds, an Irish Presbyterian clergyman of James Island, S. C., and of his wife, Mary Ball, a native of that island. James Island was then as now the site of many large plantations.